Ethnoveterinary medicines for cattle (Bos indicus) in Bulamogi county, Uganda: plant species and mode of use

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Abstract

In this paper, we present an inventory and the mode of use of plants to treat cattle. This study was carried out in Bulamogi county of Uganda, using methods consisting of semi-structured interviews employing a checklist of questions, questionnaires, direct observations, and biological inventories. Farmers employ both traditional and western medicine to treat their animals. The local people identified 33 different diseases, and had herbal treatments for nine of these. Some of the diseases mentioned by farmers indicated symptoms of diseases. Thus, the naming of diseases by local people when compared to the western veterinary medicine system, at times did not distinguish between diseases and symptoms of diseases. This is because the local disease nomenclature is based on symptoms of diseases, whereas under western veterinary science diseases are named according to aetiological information. As for traditional medicine, we report for the first time the use of 38 plant species, distributed in 37 genera and 28 families, to treat the common cattle diseases in Bulamogi. Most of these plants grow wild (76.3%), are indigenous (68.4%) and are shrubs (60.5%). The plant parts most frequently used for treating cattle are roots (37.5%) and leaves (27.5%). Medications are mostly prepared as infusions and seldom as decoctions. Topical application of some medicines is practised as well. The species used to treat cattle are also used to treat some human ailments and have some other uses as well. Most of the curative species reported here are directed at treating East Coast fever (ECF), a disease known to cause high fatalities in cattle.

Introduction

Livestock rearing is a key economic activity of Uganda and contributes 7.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (World Bank, 1993, NEMA, 1998, MAAIF and MFPED, 2000). Of all the livestock that are raised in Uganda, cattle are the most important in terms of economic value (World Bank, 1993). The size of the cattle herd in Uganda is estimated to be growing (NEMA, 1998), but diseases seriously hamper production from cattle. Epidemic diseases such as rinderpest, and endemic ones like foot and mouth and tick borne diseases normally afflict cattle in Uganda. The clinical service of the public veterinary service is believed to be inefficient and seen to have minimal effect on animal health (World Bank, 1993).

In many developing countries, farmers and herders rely on ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) to treat their livestock because the western-based veterinary healthcare system is inefficient due to poor staffing or because western veterinary drugs are expensive (McCorkle et al., 1996). EVM is a system of maintaining animal health and curing diseases of animals that is based on folk beliefs and traditional knowledge (TK), skills, methods and practices (Mathias-Mundy and McCorkle, 1989).

Ethnoveterinary medicine knowledge like all other TK systems is transmitted orally from generation to generation (e.g. McCorkle, 1986, Mathias-Mundy and McCorkle, 1989, McCorkle et al., 1996, Dold and Cocks, 2001, Ngoroi et al., 2001), and like the other TK systems, it is disappearing because of rapid socio-economic, environmental and technological changes. This means therefore, that local knowledge of ethnoveterinary healing must be documented and conserved through systematic studies before it is lost forever. To date there has been no systematic recording of veterinary cures in Uganda. Systematic studies on EVM in Uganda are justified for three important reasons, they can: (i) generate concise information which can be used to develop livestock healing practices and methods that are locally suited to Uganda, (ii) if developed systematically EVM can be a key veterinary resource, and (iii) can also add useful new drugs to the modern veterinary pharmacopoeia (see McCorkle, 1986, Dhillion et al., 2002). The main objective of this study was to document the plants used to treat cattle in Bulamogi county.

Bulamogi county is found in Kamuli district of Uganda between 33°20′–33°38′E and 0°58′–1°18′N at an altitude of 1052–1098 m (Uganda Government, 1963). It covers an area of ca. 870 km2. Within Bulamogi county are five subcounties, viz. Nawaikoke, Gadumire, Namwiwa, Bumanya and Namugongo. Within each subcounty are several parishes, each made up of a number of villages.

Bulamogi has four major land use categories: non-uniform small-scale farmland (67.4%), wetlands (16.4%) dominated by Cyperus papyrus, woodlands (3.6%) dominated by Albizia zygiaCombretum spp.–Hyparrhenia rufa association, and Albizia zygiaCombretum gueinziiBrachiaria decumbens association, grasslands (2.6%) dominated by Sorghastrum rigidifolium. All other categories including bushlands take up less than 1% of the land area, and the remainder of the area is open water (Langdale-Brown, 1959, Forest Department, 1997).

The people of Bulamogi are an agricultural community who practise subsistence crop agriculture as their main livelihood (Anonymous, 2000). Livestock husbandry is very important in the community, and traditionally wealth has been assessed basing on the number of livestock, especially cattle, owned by an individual. Indeed tax assessment is still based on the number of domestic animals owned, although cash crops are increasingly forming the basis for tax assessment. More than 95% of the community rear livestock, and the cattle herd is estimated at 75,000 animals (Tabuti et al., in preparation). The cattle herd of Bulamogi comprises of indigenous short horned Zebu (Bos indicus). There are five western veterinary trained doctors, one in each subcounty.

Section snippets

Methods

Fieldwork for this study was carried out between June 2000 and June 2001. We used semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and direct observations to collect the data (Martin, 1995). Prior to any contact with the local people, the study and its objectives were introduced to the County Officer—this introduction was always repeated when entering a new administrative area (e.g. a subcounty or a village).

Five key informants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule consisting

Plant species used to treat cattle

Thirty-eight plant species distributed in 37 genera and 28 families are used to treat cattle. Two species were unidentified (Table 1). Most of these plant families are dicotyledonous except Anthericaceae, Araceae, Asparagaceae, Bromeliaceae, and Musaceae. The families with the largest number of plant species used to treat cattle are Fabaceae with five species and Euphorbiaceae with three. The families Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, and Solanaceae are represented by two species each. The rest of the plant

Conclusion

There is much TK concerning cattle diseases and their treatment within the community of Bulamogi. The people can identify 33 different cattle diseases. They can treat nine cattle diseases and improve lactation in cattle using herbal plants, and other materials and methods. This TK is reported in the literature for the first time. The purported treatments and practices reported in this study need to be validated in order to identify those which can be of practical advantage in agricultural

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by funds from NORAD and NUFU project 13/2002. The research is linked to that of the Management of Biodiversity, and TERG groups at SUM-University of Oslo and the Agricultural University of Norway led by S.S. Dhillion. The Botany Department of Makerere University Uganda provided the local logistics. We thank Prof. R. Bukenya-Ziraba for his encouragement and advice, and J. Bradley Norman for comments. Also acknowledged are W.O. Maganyi, P. Rwaburindore, A.B. Katende and

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